Southern Paranormal - Investigations
Private Business Investigation, Southampton
Friday 16th April 2010
As this was a private business investigation the report for this will just consist of personal reports from some of the members that were present. Our heartfelt thanks go to the owners of the Beauty Salon who opened up their business for us to investigate.
Amanda Horley
I think this must be a first for us, as we don’t often get to investigate business premises, and I can’t remember us ever investigating a Beauty Salon before. We were quite a small group and were joined on the investigation by Emily, Nicky and Amanda from the Salon.
I was in a team with Maria, Alison and Emily, and we started our investigation in room 3. This room was right at the back of the building, and was not used on a daily basis. After settling down I sensed the presence of an old lady and got the name Agnes, with a surname that was something like Lively or Lightly. I felt that she was in a rocking chair and had a tremor in her right arm. She was in her 80’s, and was sat in a room behind a shop that her son worked in. I think the time period was 1960s. The room we were in didn’t seem big enough, and Emily confirmed that at some point it had gone back a further couple of feet. Alison said that it smelt very musty by the door, and when we investigate, we were picking up this smell about a foot above the floor. There was also the odour of urine or bleach. Having moved over to the door I stayed there, but found the shower in the corner really unnerving. I kept expecting someone to step out of it.
For the second vigil we started in the reception area at the front of the shop. We had commented during the break on how “buzzing” this area seemed to be, and noted that both during the break and before the investigation started the conversation had often turned to good looking male celebrities. However, as this place had been a salon for 20 years, it would not be surprising if there hadn’t been a lot of similar conversations in that time, and I suspect that energy relating to this was still hanging around. I sat at the manicuring table and felt that someone was sitting in the chair opposite me. I felt that it was a male presence, but very bubbly. He enjoyed the gossip as much as the female clients. Emily confirmed that there had been a man who used to visit regularly each week until the ownership changed last year, and he would come in for a manicure. I don’t want to go into further detail as during the next break Nicky confirmed that he has not passed, and although he no longer visits the shop, he is still alive. He came across as a lovely man and I can only assume that making such regular visits over the years means that he has left a lot of energy in the salon.
For the next vigil we moved into room 2. I didn’t feel particularly comfortable in here although I couldn’t say why. As there were no external windows in here it was incredibly dark which may have increased my unease. After a time I felt much happier being there, but from a paranormal point of view I didn’t really pick up on anything specific.
Our final vigil was in room 1. Again with no external windows. At one point I felt that there was a man standing to my left who was waiting to see what would happen. Unfortunately I couldn’t pick up any more detail on him, and after a time he left.
Thank you to Nicky, Emily and Amanda for giving us a chance to investigate this building. It was a very interesting evening, especially picking up on the energy of someone who was still very much alive.
Rob Butler
Rob, Maureen, Marie, Amanda ( staff ) and Nikki ( staff )
This was a first for me as an investigator at a beauty parlour. Thanks to Nikki and all the other staff for attending and letting us investigate this beauty parlour.
Vigil 1 = 8:00pm-8:45pm room1 and main reception.
Room 1. This room was very dark when the light was turned out and somewhat oppressive. I did have the impression in this room that someone was standing next to Maureen although no one was stood there. We tried calling out but there were no responses to this although there were a few small taps but nothing conclusive. Maureen tried using the rods and there was slight success with this even when I tried them!
After a while in this room we decided to spend the remainder of our first vigil in the main reception area. We tried calling out but no responses were heard and we did try using the glass. It seemed to jolt slightly but again nothing conclusive. Our first vigil ended 8:45pm.
Vigil 2 = 9:00pm – 10:00pm room 2 and 3.
Room 3. We started our next vigil in room 3. This seemed to be the coldest room in the parlour and one that the staff felt the most uncomfortable in. We started by calling out but got no response to this although the investigators and the staff with us in the team started to feel colder. Maureen again tried the rods and this time we got definite responses to questions asked. We managed to speak to a young girl aged 23 by the name of Sarah. She sadly committed suicide when her lover/partner Steven tragically fell down a flight of stairs in the property. Maureen could see the young girl had blonde hair and blue eyes. I also had the sense and feeling that there was someone in the room stood in between me and Maureen. We spent the whole hour interacting with this young girl so never got to go into room 2 during this vigil.
Vigil 3= 10:30- 11:15pm main reception room 1 and room 3.
We started the 3rd vigil again in the main reception area calling out but again there were no responses to this. We also tried using the glass but no responses happened. We decided to go back into room 3 and try and make contact with Sarah again. This time however there was no response from the rods and only slight movements when we were asking direct questions. We finished vigil 3 11:15 pm.
Vigil 4= 11:30- 12:15am room 1 and room 2.
We decided as we had spent all the other vigils in the various rooms apart from room 2 that the last vigil we would spend solely in room 2.
This room felt completely calm to us and although we tried calling out and using the rods (Maureen also tried using a crystal) there was no response to anything we did.
Overall the evening for me was mixed as although there was no definite what I would call paranormal behaviour, the session using the rods was very intriguing for me on a personal level. Thanks once again to Nikki and the other members of staff for making us feel welcome and providing us with yummy biscuits. Thanks again.
Maria Street
Well, this was certainly a first for us! We have never investigated a beauty salon before so I had no idea what to expect. There were only 6 of us in attendance along with our host and two guests. I was in Team 1 with Amanda, Alison and Emily. After a quick chat and a cup of coffee we got started. We set up trigger objects in rooms 2 and 3. Our first vigil was in room 3 which was colder than the rest of the building. Alison immediately picked up on something by the door. It didn't feel comfortable to her. Amanda felt the same. We stepped into the room and began. I had the surname of Jones in my head and a man's name of Ronald. We tried calling out but with no response, although Amanda felt the presence of an old lady named Agnes, who would have been here in the sixties and would have been in her eighties. She also felt there would have been a fireplace behind her and that the room should have been deeper. Emily confirmed that the room would have been set further back in previous times. Alison decided to sit on the floor by the door and picked up on the smell of urine. I bent down and could also smell it. This was followed by Amanda who also confirmed our suspicions. Although the toilet was opposite this door, Emily told us that the pipes for the toilet went the other way. A little while later, I had a vision in my head of the shower door opening and wondered if this had ever happened. Before I had a chance to voice it however, Amanda felt the presence of a man in the shower and he wasn't particularly nice. We tried calling out but got no response. We chatted amongst ourselves for a little while in the hope of evoking a response. It seemed to work when Amanda saw three separate flashes of light coming from the corner by the door. It was not the brilliant flash of a camera but faint and localised. This was the end of our vigil and after a break and a welcome hot chocolate, (thank you Emily), we started our next vigil. This was an easy task for us as we didn't have to move anywhere. Vigil 2 would take place in the reception area which doubled up as our kit room. We found ourselves quite giggly in this room and had noticed during the course of the evening that the talk always seemed to centre on men or sexual innuendos. Alison likened her flask to a phallic symbol at one point! Amanda became aware of an energy sat opposite her so I came over to sit in that particular seat. Amanda felt it was a male energy and he loved our conversation and could have been actually steering it in that direction. Emily informed us of a particular transsexual who used to frequent the salon, but who hadn't been seen for a few years. Amanda asked his age and I immediately said 63. I have no idea where that came from, but later in the evening, our host, Nicky, confirmed he was indeed in his sixties. I had the name of Robin in my head and then laughed because all I could then think of was Robin Hood, men in tights. I think the most interesting thing of all was that this particular man was still alive, but his energy was so strong, it was still being picked up on. I also got the name of Peter, which was also picked up by Nicky in another room. Our next vigil was in Room 2 and we turned out all the lights. Immediately the whole room was plunged into complete darkness. We called out but could get no response. About half way through the vigil, I detected a very faint light on Emily. I tried to determine if this could be a reflection of anything but we were in a windowless room and it was pitch black. Alison took a picture of Emily and a large light anomaly showed up on her clothes. Alison also saw a black shadow to the right of Emily. We tried calling out again, but unfortunately, it was unforthcoming. Our last vigil was in Room 1 which was another very dark room but we decided to use the red light of Amanda's torch. Unfortunately for everyone else, but thrillingly for me, it seemed the only spirit present in that room was my Grandad. That spelled the end of our evening here and I would really like to thank our host Nicky, for allowing us in for the night, and also to Emily for setting it up for us. Thank you also for the beverages and the lovely biscuits. I hope you and your guest, Amanda, enjoyed the evening as much as we did.
Marie Holder
Team: Rob, Maureen, Me and Nicky
Introduction
It’s always nice to visit a private location as it gives us the opportunity of investigating often much smaller locations that can sometimes have more activity. I arrived a little after 7pm and met up with the rest of the team outside the location. We then made our way into the location and met up with the owners. We had a tour round the vigil areas and I felt a strange atmosphere in Area 2 but it did not feel malignant.
Vigil - Area 1
Nothing unusual felt in this area. We tried the divining rods and got one response to “are there any spirits in this room” and got a yes answer, then nothing.
We tried the glass but got no response.
Vigil 2 – Area 2
It was very dark and eerie in this area. We again used the rods and we contacted ‘Beth’ who is Maureen’s friend. She told us that there was a not very nice man in the salon but we were in no danger. I also got the name Sarah in my head (although I did not mention it at the time).
Vigil 3 – Area 4
This area was very eerie and although I did not pick up on anything strange in this area on the walk around there was something there with us on our vigil. We decided to use the rods. We contacted a girl called Sarah who was in her 20s with blonde hair and I could also see in my mind the colour blue. I felt that she may be Scottish as I had a surname with the prefix ‘Mc’ pop into my head. We asked if she was Scottish and she said yes. She told us that she had committed suicide because her boyfriend had died, I asked if his name was Steven (as I got this name in my head) and the answer was yes. She also told us that Steven was her lover/boyfriend and he had fallen down some stairs and died. She was also carrying somebody else’s baby but Steven knew about it and that her parents lived in this location.
Vigil 4 – Area 1
Very quiet. Tried glass and got no response.
Vigil 5 – Area 2
We heard taps and thought it was the other team but when we asked during the break they said it wasn’t them. Nothing else happened.
Vigil 6 – Area 3
Tried rods and got very little response.
Vigil 7 – Area 4
Nothing unusual happened on this vigil and it was very quiet. I got the name Alfie or Alfred in my head but felt that it was not connected to the building but to one of the team.
Conclusion
This was a unique location with some very eerie rooms! My favourite area was area 4 at the end of the corridor as although there was a window in there it was very dark and the atmosphere when our team went in the first time was completely different to when we went in the second time. I would like to thanks Nicky and Emily for allowing us in and for a very enjoyable evening.